[fa66ster]

So like most people in the country the recssion has hit me too!

Was thinking of starting up my own cleaning business (like a lot of folk) Is it worth a go or is the market flooded with start ups?

I will buy my own equipment and build a client base that way...... or is it better to pay through the nose for a franchise? Don't like the idea of paying 10k to some company and 6 months down the line the client base I bought has dropped off.

Anyone bought franchise and experienced any problems??

[Nathanael Jones]

I've heard some nightmare stories about franchises. Very few are worth the money,... although I have heard good things about one guy on here who not only sets you up, but spends 6 weeks or more going round canvassing with you, training you in and helping you build a good customer base. A franchise where you just receive an "area" is worthless IMO.

[Joe H]

I would not spend my money on a franchise.
Doing it on your own will be harder but you keep your initial investment and all of further profits.
Are you planning to do the cleaning by yourself, or you and your partner, or take on staff?

[captain j]

Problem with a franchise is that there is no guarantee that it will work and the true fact is that there are probably more franchises that fail than succeed but you never get to hear of these because the franchise threatens the franchisee with legal action if he dares publish anything bad about the franchise and has in fact had forums closed down because of this.
  As well as your 10k investment consider the royalty payments you would have to make to the franchisor plus some state in their agreement that you must buy your supplies from them - all reducing your profit margin.
If you have the 10k then as already said invest in some equipment and relevant training and set up yourself there is great info on sites like business link for marketing and sales and tax plus forums like this for any technical questions you may have.

Thanks Jason

[bluez]

By its nature this site is not really the place to seek advice on franchises, most on here are self employed and have done it there own way. They are exactly the opposite of the franchisee.

Good place for the negative side of the picture though and much of it is true (I don't disagree with their points above)...............but there are some success stories out there as well. My advice on buying a franchise would be to buy the market leader, it may cost you money in the short term but they have more riding on your success than the smaller outfit.

eg: If I was buying a pizza franchise I would buy Dominoes not some "proper pizza" version much bigger money but very low failure rates.

Bottom line there is no easy way to success the best franchise in the world will fail if you don't work it, so make sure you are buying a franchise for other reasons than it being easy, reasons like support, branding, marketing, training, very well developed systems, track record of success and if you cant get positive responses to direct enquiries from existing franchisees then stay away.

[Pristine Clean]

Bluez,

You maybe correct thst we are against the idea of a franchise buy in. However you are not considering all the facts.

With a frasnchise you pay them so much and possibly depending on who you go with, you may even have to keep paying a certain amount.

Areas especially in the cleaning business are devided up. So you cannot go into someone elses territory.  :

Going for a top brand is not actually the best advice either. Being a top brand is just marketing and thats all.

Plus all they do is give you common sense advice and a small client base sometimes and a place to purchase the chemicals and equipment and ready made forms.

If you have a small amount of capital I would go it alone. As frieghtening as it may be it will be a magical journey even in the dirty world of cleaning.

To start with all you need are a few cleaning chemcals, some dusters and hay presto you are a cleaning contractor! Oh and a vacuum cleaner.

You start out on your own doing the work, cold call is the only way! Lots of it. Before you know it you will need to hire a cleaner or two.

Purchase some more equipment. Get yourself a few contracts and actual written contracts, terms and conditions and SAVE yourself money. A franchise No way! Be your own Boss. Go into anyones territory!

It all depends on what you want and where you want your business to go.

I started years ago, as a sole trader. I was tempted to go with a franchise but there are too many far to many things you are not allowed to do when you join. They are a rip off! And my personal opinion is that they are just giving you information that you can obtain if you looked hard enough.

Anyways, we are now a Ltd company Vat registered, and have many contracts and many staff. Yes it is hard work, very hard work and there will be times that you will think is it worth it!

You will think to yourself, after a few months if you can last that long I will go and get a job instead. But stick with it.

Now you have the climate that we are in, which is not great to startup in, but it could be as there are many companies including cleaning companies closing. Leaving the door open for someone else just like you.

Go it alone and keep your money in your bank, its money you earnt! Even if you didnt earn it.. its yours do not give it to a franchise as they will just treat you like another mug!

After all you will get more satisfaction on going it alone. No boss, No repayments, No territory rules. No meetings with them to see how you are performing. All the return, profit is YOURS!

I WISH YOU WELL IN YOUR NEW VENTURE!


Dave

[bluez]

Bluez,

You maybe correct thst we are against the idea of a franchise buy in. However you are not considering all the facts.

With a frasnchise you pay them so much and possibly depending on who you go with, you may even have to keep paying a certain amount.

Areas especially in the cleaning business are devided up. So you cannot go into someone elses territory.  :

Going for a top brand is not actually the best advice either. Being a top brand is just marketing and thats all.

Plus all they do is give you common sense advice and a small client base sometimes and a place to purchase the chemicals and equipment and ready made forms.

If you have a small amount of capital I would go it alone. As frieghtening as it may be it will be a magical journey even in the dirty world of cleaning.

To start with all you need are a few cleaning chemcals, some dusters and hay presto you are a cleaning contractor! Oh and a vacuum cleaner.

You start out on your own doing the work, cold call is the only way! Lots of it. Before you know it you will need to hire a cleaner or two.

Purchase some more equipment. Get yourself a few contracts and actual written contracts, terms and conditions and SAVE yourself money. A franchise No way! Be your own Boss. Go into anyones territory!

It all depends on what you want and where you want your business to go.

I started years ago, as a sole trader. I was tempted to go with a franchise but there are too many far to many things you are not allowed to do when you join. They are a rip off! And my personal opinion is that they are just giving you information that you can obtain if you looked hard enough.

Anyways, we are now a Ltd company Vat registered, and have many contracts and many staff. Yes it is hard work, very hard work and there will be times that you will think is it worth it!

You will think to yourself, after a few months if you can last that long I will go and get a job instead. But stick with it.

Now you have the climate that we are in, which is not great to startup in, but it could be as there are many companies including cleaning companies closing. Leaving the door open for someone else just like you.

Go it alone and keep your money in your bank, its money you earnt! Even if you didnt earn it.. its yours do not give it to a franchise as they will just treat you like another mug!

After all you will get more satisfaction on going it alone. No boss, No repayments, No territory rules. No meetings with them to see how you are performing. All the return, profit is YOURS!

I WISH YOU WELL IN YOUR NEW VENTURE!


Dave

Dave
I have not advocated purchasing a franchise and to accuse me of not addressing all the facts shows that either you didnt read my post or you misinterpreted it.

What fact or facts have I not considered in making my point?

[bluez]

Pristine said..
"Being a top brand is just marketing and thats all."

I would ask that you consider this statment outside of a franchising context and consider if it has any merit.

 

[Pristine Clean]

Bluez,

I only meant this part.

"By its nature this site is not really the place to seek advice on franchises, most on here are self employed and have done it there own way. They are exactly the opposite of the franchisee.
"
The rest is aimed at the fa66ster.

There are some on here that have a franchise or sell a franchise.

Also how do you know that many on here are not part of a franchise. Have many of us actually met each other. Obvious some have but not all.

No acusation was intended. My oppologises if it came accross wrong.

Dave

[Pristine Clean]

Pristine said..
"Being a top brand is just marketing and thats all."

I would ask that you consider this statment outside of a franchising context and consider if it has any merit.

Yes it has merit!

Look I have a Jaguar. Thats a pretty top brand in the auto industry.

However what makes a Jaguar better than a standard Ford escort. Just because I have a 4.2 litre supercharged engine. A ford escort could be just as reliable. Take a look at Skoda many years ago people hated them. BMW remarketed it. Now people buy them like there is no tomorrow. See its marketing. Not neccesarily a better product. It may look better.

I have also seen Mercedeze - Benz 600 on the hard shoulder over heated! So not actually a better product. And thats Branding.

On the cleaning side, People are now being led to believe if you are a carpet cleaner and you do not have a TM (Truck mount) then you cant do a great job, Have a TM and you will do a better job.

So are we to now say that portables that can cost just as much as a TM are less superior.

I would actually like to see it proven that a carpet is less full of dirt by a sufficient amount to actually warrant a TM instead of a portable.

I know a TM may get the water hotter But it has been now proven that heat actually makes the dirt harder to retrieve in some cases. That is now why when washing.. your clothes we are being asked to use 15 degree instead of 30 - 40 and 50 degrees. Its all marketing.

This is my Merit!

Dave

[bluez]

Bluez,

I only meant this part.

"By its nature this site is not really the place to seek advice on franchises, most on here are self employed and have done it there own way. They are exactly the opposite of the franchisee.
"
The rest is aimed at the fa66ster.

There are some on here that have a franchise or sell a franchise.

Also how do you know that many on here are not part of a franchise. Have many of us actually met each other. Obvious some have but not all.

No acusation was intended. My oppologises if it came accross wrong.

Dave

ok so 

[bluez]

Pristine said..
"Being a top brand is just marketing and thats all."

I would ask that you consider this statment outside of a franchising context and consider if it has any merit.

Yes it has merit!

Look I have a Jaguar. Thats a pretty top brand in the auto industry.

However what makes a Jaguar better than a standard Ford escort. Just because I have a 4.2 litre supercharged engine. A ford escort could be just as reliable. Take a look at Skoda many years ago people hated them. BMW remarketed it. Now people buy them like there is no tomorrow. See its marketing. Not neccesarily a better product. It may look better.

I have also seen Mercedeze - Benz 600 on the hard shoulder over heated! So not actually a better product. And thats Branding.

On the cleaning side, People are now being led to believe if you are a carpet cleaner and you do not have a TM (Truck mount) then you cant do a great job, Have a TM and you will do a better job.

So are we to now say that portables that can cost just as much as a TM are less superior.

I would actually like to see it proven that a carpet is less full of dirt by a sufficient amount to actually warrant a TM instead of a portable.

I know a TM may get the water hotter But it has been now proven that heat actually makes the dirt harder to retrieve in some cases. That is now why when washing.. your clothes we are being asked to use 15 degree instead of 30 - 40 and 50 degrees. Its all marketing.

This is my Merit!

Dave

I would conceed that you will be able to come up with some examples to support your point that being a top brand is only about marketing but I only have to come up with one to disprove your point.

Do you not feel customer service, product, price, reliability, safety, reputation etc have anything to do with branding because a lot of companies could save megabucks if you are right?

The examples of cars that you have used is pretty good but you would have to be able to show why people spent extra on a vw instead of a toyota and I am fairly sure that very few will claim that the quality of the adds were the deciding factor.

Most will talk of stlye, shape, reliability, resale value etc some of which I would agree are products of good marketing but some are also real peoples experience of using these brands and finding that they have been satisfactory or even superior to their rivals.

Marketing is a big part of it but all the money thrown at advertising will only get you so far if the product is crap.imo

[bluez]

This thread would support my point I think

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=77907.0

Sorry for hijacking this thread

[Pristine Clean]

Bluez,

You are right!


What WFP system do you own?

Is it Ionics? Or another top brand!

However, you have now missed the point. We were were not talking about customer service, support, backing...at the original start of the post.

We have WFP systems.. not top brand at all! But I know I couldnt ask for a better service and backing. Plus it saved my company lots of money.

I was commenting that you said this is the wrong place to get advice on a franchise and I think in my opinion its the best place.


Dave

[Len Gribble]

Paying £10k I take it domestic one? At the end of the day all you are doing is branding their name!

Commercial a deferent kettle of fish!  I know of some only in the last few months, who have lost over £250k and some their homes.

I was a good franchisee (employee/slave thank god I’m no longer one understand you now have to have a tracker in the van) also customer/client knows how to pull your string.

Oh got a TM very efficient machine far superior to my portable Ninja

Len

[Pristine Clean]

Paying £10k I take it domestic one? At the end of the day all you are doing is branding their name!

Commercial a deferent kettle of fish!  I know of some only in the last few months, who have lost over £250k and some their homes.

I was a good franchisee (employee/slave thank god I’m no longer one understand you now have to have a tracker in the van) also customer/client knows how to pull your string.

Oh got a TM very efficient machine far superior to my portable Ninja

Len

Len,

We have worked and owned and have TM. Yes I agree it has more power, makes a bigger noise. It certainly something to show the customer or new prospect.

But if you clean a 2 exact carpets. One with a Ninja and one with a TM could the customer tell the differece.

Can science - lab testing actually prove the carpet cleaned by the TM was actually cleaner.


Ps your website on this forum point to http://www.123-reg.co.uk

Not angsfc.co.uk
Dave

[vacman]

If i was going into the world of Franchising, the last thing in the world that i'd pick is cleaning. Look at the people who buy the franchises; they couldnt care if it was cleaning houses or flying to the moon, the point is that they want to be a franchisee of some sort, regardless of their industry background.

The very fact that you are even considering starting your own CLEANING business vs. a franchise would suggest that you have some knowledge and 'love' of the cleaning sector, unlike the types i've met who franchised cleaning for franchising's sake.

Word of mouth and reliable staff (ha!) are the key to a domestic cleaning business. You'll have to really weigh-up whether a franchise is worth the stress.

And -whilst customers should be plentiful- you may find that they won't be prepared to pay the price you HAVE to charge to make it 'work'. Especially if VAT is added on, but there's been another thread about that recently.

[Atlantic Cleaning]

I feel I am very well qualified to answer this question being an ex Franchisee. The franchise I was involved with had over 1000 franchise pass through their net-work in 20 years (I found this out after being with them for about a year) They are full of promises in the begining but once they have your money, the franchise I was with could not care less. I saw so many franchisees fail and loose everything me included. The only ones to make money is them, I was once told by them it is a win win situation for them. My advice to anyone thinking of a franchise is DONT DO IT.

[bluez]

"However, you have now missed the point. We were were not talking about customer service, support, backing...at the original start of the post."

You were the one who said "being a top brand is just marketing" that is the issue that I have raised from your post, what is the make up of a top brand, you say it is marketing and I say it is much more than just marketing, such as the above items, so I fail to see how that is in any way missing the point,  and when you decide to try to thrash my point by saying my advice was wrong you narked me. My advice was very carefully worded to be sensitive to the points allready made and to offer a slightly alternative position without questioning anyone elses experience.

"Going for a top brand is not actually the best advice either. Being a top brand is just marketing and thats all."

This is the bit of your post that got me into the discussion with you,  I was only offering a different view to the others until you said that my advice was wrong. My advice is for the person who posed the question and he or she can choose wheather to use it or not. I added my opinion because up to that point all opinions offered were negative and I did not feel they were a complete reflection on the whole franchising way of business and that an alternative view might be useful to the poster.

I have ionics systems, sure clean delivery systems, a couple of home mades and a sure clean static system, I have a mixture of poles LEWI modular, ionics, unger and brodex and have just put together a couple of Harris's. I am not sure of the relevence to the discussion.

I dont normally get into these forward and backword discussions and I am happy to let you have the last word, I have read many of your posts and have found them to be helpful and informative so this is not any personal issue with you.

By the way I think vacmans post is pretty good advice.

[vacman]

why thanks